Bucket-position-indicating means for hoists



l. W. MACY May 7, 1 929.

BucxE'r 'POS'ITIQN INDIGATING MEANS FOR HOISTS 4 Sheets-Sheet Filed May1, 1928 gwuentoz lLllI I May 7, 1929. w. MACY 1,712,045

s'ucxn'r Posmonfmmcnme MEANS FOR aoxsws Filed ma 1, 1928 4 Shets-Sheet 24 12 I I /E I T if May 7, 1929. l. w. MAcY BUCKET POSITION INDICATINGMEANS FOR HOISTS Filed May 1; 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 May 7, 1929.

1. w. MACY BUCKET POSITION INDICATING MEANS FOR nors'rs Filed May 1,1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Mum! \w n M o 1 ix 1 X 1 .H w 1 w lilo! I 1 mmQ uH i @3 1 HE? uuiQh An N o m k mm 1| N -MN M m N\ Patented May 7, 1929;

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

ISI-IMAEL "W. MACY, OF GALION, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE GALION IRON WORKS &

MFG. 00., F GALION, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

BUCKET-POSITION INDIGATING MEANS FOR HOISTS.

Application filed May 1,

This invention relates to hoisting systems used for hoisting materialsfrom a pit, carrying the hoisting bucket or equivalent element to a bin,discharging the bucket'into the bin, and then returning the bucket backto the pit for re-loading, and particularly to means for indicating tothe operator the vertical elevation of the bucket at any time and theposition of the bucket with relation to the bin and pit so that theoperator, by looking at the indicator, can see exactly where the bucketis at any one time and thus operate his control levers in accordancetherewith.

Such hoisting mechanism is illustrated, described and claimed in mypending application for patent Serial #274,320 filed on the first day ofMay, 1928, the hoisting bucket which 1 design to use with such a systemand such winding drum mechanism being disclosed in application Serial#27 5,47 7 filed on the fifth day of'May, 1928. I

The general object of the present invention is to provide indicatingmechanism of the character described which includes two indicators, oneoperated by the hoisting drum and indicating the upward or downwardmovement of the carrier or elevator bucket or skip, and the otherindicating by means of a swinging pointer the position of the bucketwith relation to the various bins and being operated by frictionalengagement with the traction cable which causes the traverse of thebucket.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a traverseindicator including a dial and a pointer traveling around the dial andcaused to move from a Zero position by the movement of the hoisting drumfrom a position over the pit to a position over the various bins, andspecifically to provide means whereby the pointer is disengaged fromthis driving mechanism upon a return movement of the bucket andparticularly upon a return movement of the bucket when the bucket hasbeen lowered to its full extent so that the pointer will automaticallyreturn to a zero position, thus causing the pointer to return to acorrect zero positionat all times without regard to any stretching orlengthening of the cable due to the operation of the hoisting mechanismor expansion or contraction.

1928. Serial No. 274,319.

A more specific object in this connection is to prov de a weightedpointer which is at zero when it is in a vertical position so that whenthe driving gear for this pointer is released upon the return of thehoisting indicator to its lowermost position, indicating that the buckethas in turn been lowered into the pit to its fully lowered position, thepointer or traverse indicator will swing by gravity to its zero positionentirely disconnected from lts driving mechanism.

' Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.1

My invention is illustrated in the'accompanying drawings, wherein Figure1 isa fragmentary top plan view of a windingapparatus such as'iscompletely.

showninmy application for patent Serial #274,320 filed on the first dayof May,- 1928, and illustrating in plan the indicating means; F1gures2and 3 are elevations of the lever and link respectively used for thepurpose of disconnecting the traversing drum indi cator soas'to permitit to swing freely;

Figure 4 is an elevation of the disconnecting lever; V Figure 5 is asection on the line 55 of Fig; 1;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary elevationof the upper end of bracket 19;

Figure 7 is a fragmentary section of one end .of the hoisting drum andof the indicating mechanism connected thereto;

Figure 8 is a detail fragmentary view partly in section of the lower endof the hoisting drumindicator screw showing the hoisting drum indicatornut and the collar in v section; I

Figure 9 is a sectional View through the hoisting drum indicator screwand the standard supporting the same showing in top plan the bracket forsupporting the indicator screw; I

Figure 10 is an elevation of the casing supporting thegearing for thetraversing drum indicator looking toward the inside face of the casing;

Figure 11 is a section on the line 1111 of Figure 10;

Figure 12 is a horiozntal section-a1 view of the casing showing thegearing in a plan view.

Referring to the drawings, 10 designates upper end 26 w the base uponwhich the winding drums are mounted, and 11 designates a shalt mountedupon said base and supporting the drum or spool 12, which I will callthe traverse drum, and from which extends the cable 13 which, throughmechanism not illustrated, acts to cause the traverse of the hoistingbucket along an overhead track or way and to a position over any desiredbin or over a pit into which the hoisting bucketis to be lowered to berefilled. This drum 12 is engaged with this shatt by means of a suitableclutch mechanism, designated generally 14,, and the details otwhieh arenot illustrated.

The hoistingdrum is designated 15 and this drum also is provided withclutch mechanism whereby it may be placed in rotative engagement withits shaft or out of such rotative'engagement, and both of these drumsare provided with brakes adapted to be automatically applied when theclutches are shifted to discoz' nect one or the other of the drums "fromthe driving shalt therefor. This mechanism is fully illustrated anddescribed in iny-copending application Serial #274,320 tiled on thefirst day of May, 1928, and in detail has no connection to the presentin vention.

Mounted upon the drum 15 to rotate therewith is a beveled gear wheel 16and disposed upon a pedestal 17 which supports one bearlSfor the shattllis a bracket 19 which supports at its upper end the angular terminalmember 20 which is to support a brake band and which is formed at itslower end with a socket 21 adapted to litover the upper end of thebracket 19 and be held thereto by a set screw. v

lrlounted below the upper end of-the bracket 19 are the collars 22,thesecollars support- Zingbearings 23 for a screw-threaded shat" 24fAlsomounted upon these collars is an indicator bar 25 having anangularly turned ich also constitutes a bearing for the screw orworm 24.This bar is held in place iu'ionthecollars 23 by means of the set screws27. Mounted upon this bar 25 a scrlel plate or index plate 28 havingaltitudes marked thereon, these altitudes indicating the loadingposition in the pit and ground level and indicating in feet and lra'ctions thereot'the distance from the ground level to the uppermostposition to which the l'Ill 'l-lQt or skip is to he hoisted.

This plate is provided with lugs 29 whereby it may be attached to andengaged with the vertical bar 25. The lower end of the screw or worm 2-lcarries upon it the beveled. gear wheel 30 which engages with thebeveled wheel 16 so that as this beveled gear wheel 16 which is mountedupon the drum l5 rotated in one direction or-th'e other, the screw willbe rotated in one direction or the other to raise or lower an indicator31, this upon the traversing drum 12.

the cable 13.

indicator 31 having a nut 32 engaged by the screw-thread ot' the worm 2tand traveling up or down as the screw is rotated. Thus it will be seenthat when the bucket is connected to the hoisting cables is hoisted bythe winding drum, the indicator will move upward and will indicate onthe scale the position of the bucket, whether it is at ground le el r atany other desired level above the ground, and that upon a returnmovementof the bucket the indicator will show the position of-the bucketabove the ground and also in its lowest position the position of thebucket in the pit where it is to be loaded.

For the purpose of indicating the traverse of the bucket from a positionimmediately above th'epit to a position over any one of the bins (notshown) I mount upon the ho st base 10 to one side of the traversingcable drum 12 a casing which has a supporting bracket 84 formedtherewith. Forming part of the case and constituting one face thereof isa circular dial and extending centrally through this dial is the stubshaft 36 which carries upon it a pointer 37 having formed therewith theweight or pendulum 38 which constantly tends to keep this pointerpointing upward at zero upon the dial. The dial is provided with certainindications, as will be later stated indicating the position of the hueet at various bins.

Mounted upon the shaft 36 is a gear wheel 39 disposed within the caattending use through an opening 40 in the case is a short Snaftd-lwhich upon its exterior c -.d carries a friction wheel 42. This wheel.shown in Figure 3, bears against the cable 13 wound In order to urge thewheel yieldingly against the cahle, the shattll is carried upon leverThis lever angular in term and pivoted upon a stub shaft at theintersection of its two arms. A spring 48 engages he lower end o'l thislever and urges the wheel 42 against h" shaft 41 looselv engages theupper end ot link 44-! whose lower end supports a shalt 44 which carriesa pinion 45 engaging the gear wheel 39. This shaft 4:4 also carries a.wheel l6 which enga a pinion l? on shaft 41.

A spring 19 urges the free end of this link 4% toward gearwvheel 39.Thus tre- 1111') tion wheel 42 is urged against the eabl. while thepinion 45 is urged toward gear wheel 39 and into mesh therewith. P herwill thus be transmitted under normal circumstances to wheel 42. pinion11, the gear wheel 46, pinion 45, gear wheel 39, and pointer 37.

So long; as the indicator 31 is raised, that is, so long as thehoistingbucket is out of the pit, a rotation of the wheel 42 will. causea rotation of the pointer so that the hoistingbucket traverses thepointerwill move around has lowered, the whcel42 will turn in a reversedirection and reverse the direction of movement of the pointer until,when the bucket is directly over the pit, the pointer will come to theposition shown in Figure 5.

One of the objects of this invention, as be fore stated, is to providemeans whereby the pointer will correct itself or come to its zeroposition upon the dial at all times without regard to any lengthening ofthe cable or any contraction in the cable or any deviation of thisnature which would tend to throwthe pointer out and cause it to movebeyond a zero position when the bucket was over the pit. To this end, Iprovide means whereby the pointer and its actuating gear wheel 89 shallbe entirely disconnected from the driving mechanism consisting of thefriction wheel 42 and its connected train of gears, when the bucket hasbeen brought to a position over the pit.

The mechanism for this purpose comprises an angular lever 5O pivoted at5O upon a wall of the case 33 and having a depending arm 51 and an armextending laterally beneath the link 44. This arm 51 of the lever has alaterally projecting pin 52 extending through aperture 40 and engagingbeneath the link 44. When the depending arm of the lever 50 is pulledinward, this pin 52 rams against the link 44 and lifts this link,

the link turning free upon the shaft 41, and

this carries the pinion 45 out of mesh with the gear wheel 39 againstthe action of the spring 49, thus leaving the gear wheel 89, shaft 86and the pointer free to swing, and then the weight 38 of the pointerwill. act through gravity to bring the pointer back to a verticalposition, which is its zero position upon the dial.

This disconnecting operation of the lever is accomplished automaticallyby connecting the lower end of the lever 50 by means of a chain, cableor other flexible connection 53 to the indicator 31 which, as beforestated, has screw-threaded ei'igagement with the in dicator screw. Asillustrated, this cable 53 pases downward through right angularlydisposed sheaves 54, then pa upward through a guide sheave and overasheave 5G mounted upon the indicatorsupporting bar and then to aslidingcollar 57 slidingly surrounding the indicator screw Vvhile I haveillustrated a particular arrangement of this cable and of the sheavessupporting the same, I do not wish to bellmited to this arrangement norto the provision of a cable for this purpose asother means forconnecting the collar 57 to thelever 50 and other means than this chain53 might be used for this purpose.

Then the indicator 31 moves upward on the screw 34, the collar is freeto move upward, thus permitting the arm 5lof lever 50 to be swungdownward by the contraction of the spring 49-. hen, however, the nut 32nearly reaches its lowermost position 011 the indicatorscrew 34, it illengage the collar 57 and force this collar down to the position shown inFigure 5and cause the lever 50 to swing to the left in Figure 10 asheretofore described and secure disengagement between the pinion 44 andthe gear wheel 39,permitting, as before remarked, the pointer to swingfreely. i

It will be seen from Figure 8 that the friction wheel 42 contacts with aplurality of strands of cable on the drum 12. It will be understood thatthis cable, as is commen in traversing drums, loosely surrounds the drumand that both ends of the cable pass off the drum and are connected tothe carriage which supports the bucket so that when the drum is turnedin one direction the carriage will be drawn-toward the drum and whcnitis turned in the other direction, the carriage tact therewith due tothewrapping of the cable around the drum, it will be readily seen thatthe drum on a sudden applicationof the clutch or load may spin insidethe cable wrapped around it. There is thus no lined relation between thedrum and the cable as there is in the case ofa hoisting drum where thecable is dead ended to the drum and the relation of the cable to thedrum always remains constant. If the friction whet- 142 of thetraversing indicator bore directly against the traction dum 12,.the drummight move inside the cable without the cable moving a correspondingamount. The indicator would then be thrown out of time with the cable.It is immaterial how many revolution Per minute or how many given numbereffect of travel the traversing drum makes, but it is of importance tolearn the travel of the cable and for this reason, I take the travelindication from the cable itself and not from th drum. 7 1

By placing the friction wheel 42 directly opposite the drum,the frictionwheel bears against the cable, so that a flat friction wheel may be usedwhich is not affected by the fact that the cable, as the drum rotates inone direction or the other, shifts axially with reference to the drum.By causing the friciton wheel to bear against the cable where it windsupon the drum, it is not necessary to arrange for any axial movement ofthe wheel as it can remain in one position with relation to thetraversing drum and any shift of the cables relative to the surface ofthe drum is taken care of by the relatively wide surface of the frictionwheel which isalways in contact with one or more of the three or fourstran lsof cable wrapped around the traetiondrum.

The indicating means which I have de scribed discloses to the operatorthe exact position all times of the bucket. If the bucket is in the pit,that is, in loading position or the position which it would occupy undernormal cireun'istances of non-use, the pointer of the traverse indicator'ill be at Zero and the pointer of the e vation indicator or hoistindicator will be also in its lowest )osition at zero. When power isapplied to the hoisting drum to lift the bucket out of the pit and carryit up into position to be traversed across the bins, the screw 24- willbe rotated, causing the indicator to move upward upon the screw. W henthis indicator reaches a proper elevation, the operator in charge willunderstand that the lJEIlCl-iGl) has been raised sufficiently to clearthe bins and then, by mechani m which forms part of my pendingapplication Serial :t'rQTiiBQO previously referred to, the hoistingdrumwill be thrown out of action and the traversing drum 12 will be throwninto action, causing, through mechanism not shown and not pertinent tothis invention, the traversing of the bucket or other hoisting meansover the various bins.

As soon as the hoist commences to traverse across the bins in ahorizontal plane, that is, soon the traversing drum is operated, thetraverse indicator will operate and the pointer 37 will commence toswing around upon the dial. The dial will be provided at intervals withadjustable stat-ion indications, designated generally 37, and theoperator watchii the pointer will note ust where the ho ting bucket isat any time. The station indicators, as ti-iey are adjustable, may bechanged to suit any particular arrangementof bins and any particular siacing of bins. This is necessary in view of the that no two plants havethe bins spaced the some distances apart. As soon as it reaches a pointabove the proper bin which is indicated by the pointer, he disconnectsthe traversing mechanism and operates the hoisting drum so as to lowerthe bucket into the bin and cause the discharge of the contents. Thebucket is then raised to its former level, which is l31(ll7lii'6(l bythe indicator screw and traveling nut thereon, and when the bucket hasbeen hoisted from the bin it is then re-travcrscd to position over thepit, us-zually indicated on the dial 235 by an index letter P.

'ihe tra crsi mechanism is then thrown out of ope" i 1 and the hoist'mechanism again operated to lower the bucket vertically downward intothe pit, and when the bucket has been fully lowered, the indicatorpointer 31, or rather the nut 32, will come in contact with the collar57, as before stated, automatically acting to disconnect the drivingmeans for the traversing mechanism from the pointer 37 thereof, allowingthe pointer to swing to a zero position. Thus it will be seen that thispointer at every trip corrects itself automatically so that it is alwaysat a zero position when the bucket has been fully lowered without regardto any contraction or expansion Ofillti cable, vear of the parts oranything of this character.

1. In material handling mechanism, a traversin drum, a cable thereonadapted to cause the horizontal traverse of article, means forindicating the position of the article being traversed including a dialconstituting a scale, a pointer movable around the, dial, and means foroperating the pointer including a friction wheel engaging the cable onthe drum and yicldingly urged toward the cable.

In article handling mechanism, a traversing drum, a. cable thereon,means for indicating the horizontal position of the article beingtraversed comprising a scale, an indicator movable over the scale, andmeans for moving the indicator including a friction wheel engaging thecable on the drum and yicldingly urged toward said cable,

3. In material handling mechanism, a drum, a ca le wound thereon, and anindicator including a friction wheel yicldingly urged against a portionof said cable which is wound on tne drum.

4-. In material handling mechanism, a winding drum, an indicatorincluding a freely swinging pointer urged to a position, means foroporatively connecting the pointer to the drum to move therewith,andmeans for disconi'iecting the pointer from the druiato permit thepointer to swing freely to a zero position.

In material handling mechanism, a um having cable thereon, means forinatng the posi f beings; shifted by the cable comprising a circulardial, a pointer rot ti g on an axis conceit tric to said dial, a seriesof station indicators mounted upon the perimeter of the dial and adaptedto adjustod to different positions on the perimeter, a d means operatedby the drum whereby to rotate the pointer.

in article handling mechanism, a hoistiug um, a traversingz drum, bothof said drums having);- cables whercl; an article may be hoisted ortraversed horizontally, means indicating the vertical position of the atide as it is raised or lo 'cred by the hoisting drum, means indicatingthe horizontal position of the article as it is shifted horizontallvthrou h space by the traversing drum, a d means actuated by return ofthe indicating: means for the hoisting drum to a position indicating thelowest position of the hoisting drum acting to cause the indicator ofthe traversing drum to ion in space or me article return to a zeroposition independently of the position of the traversing drum.

7. In handling mechanism, a hoisting drum, a traversing drum, both ofsaid drums having cables whereby an article may be hoist ed ortraversed, means for applying power to either one of said drums ordisconnecting either one of said drums, an indicator mounted inconnection with the hoisting drum and indicating the vertical positionof an article being hoisted, an indicator associated with the reversingdrum and operated thereby and indicating the position of the article asit is traversed, means urging the indicator of the traversing drum to azero position, and means actuated by the arrival of the indicator of thehoisting drum at a predetermined point acting to release the operativeconnection between the traversing drum indicator and the drum whereby topermit the traversing drum indicator to return toits Zero positionindependently of any movement of the traversing drum.

8. In handling mechanism, a winding drum, a cable thereon whereby anarticle may be handled by the drum, means for indicating the position ofthe article in space as the drum is operated including an indicatorurged by gravity to a zero position, driving means for the indicatoroperatively engaging the drum and acting asthe drum is rotated to shiftthe indicator, and means acting auto matically when the article hasreached a pre determined point to disconnect the indicating means fromthe driving means therefor to permit the indicator to return to a zeroposition under the action of gravity independently of any movement ofthe winding drum.

9. In material handling mechanism, a winding drum having a cablethereon, means for indicating the position in space of an articlecarried by the cable including a dial, a pointer s vinging concentric tothe dial and urged to a zero position, pointer operating means normallyoperating the pointer in consonance with the movement of the drum, andmeans whereby the pointer may be disconnected. from its operatingmechanism and pern'iitted to swing to a zero position. by gravity.

10. Article handling mechanism including a drum, a cable thereon, anindicator pointer urged to a Zero position and having a gear wheel, adriving wheel driven in consonance with the movement of the drum, atoothed wheel urged into meshing engagement with the pointer gear wheel,a member supporting the toothed wheel for movement toward or from thepointer gear wheel, operative connections between the driving wheel andthe toothed wheel, and a lever engaging the member and when shifted inone direction disengaging the toothed wheel from the pointer gear wheel.

11. Article handling apparatus including with, a lever upon which thefriction wheel is mounted, a spring urging thelever lIl EtfCll rectionto carry thefriction wheel againstthe cable, a toothed wheelurged intomesh ng engagement with the pointer gear wheel, alink loosely mountedupon the shaft of the friction wheel and supporting said toothed wheelfor movement toward or from the pointer gear wheel, operative drivingconnections between the shaft of the friction wheel and the toothedwheel, and a lever engaging said link and when shifted in one directiondisengaging the' toothed wheel from the pointer gear wheel. a

12. An indicator mechanism for winding drums including a dial, aweighted pointer movable over the dial and urged by gravity to a zeroposition, a gear wheel connected to the pointer to move the same, alever, a shaft carried by the lever and carrying adriving wheel, aspring urging the lever in one direction, a pinion carried upon saidshaft, a link loosely mounted upon the shaft and carrying a shaft at itsfree end, a gear wheel mounted upon said last named shaft and engagingthe first named pinion, a pinion mounted upon the last named shaftengaging the pointer gear wheel, a spring urgingthe link in thedirection to carry the last named pinion into meshing engagement withthe pointer gear wheel, and shiftable means for shifting said link toshift the last named pinion out of engagement with the motor gear wheel.

13. In article handling apparatus, a hoisting drum and a traversingdrum, a cable on the traversing drum, a member movable by and with thehoisting drum and moving in consonance with the article being hoisted bythe drum, an indicator for the traversing drum including a dial, anindicator pointer movable over the dial and urged by gravity to a zeroposition, a friction driving wheel having a shaft, a spring retractedlever supporting said. shaft, a link loosely mounted upon the shaft, apinion carried upon the shaft beyond the link, a gear wheel mounted uponthe link and engaging said pinion, the center of the gear wheel and therotative center of said lever being coincident, a pinioncoaxial with androtating with the last named gear wheel, a shaft upon which the pointeris mounted and having a gear wheel with which said last named pinionengages, a spring urging the link in a direction to cause the meshing ofthe last named pinion and the pointer gear whel and indicator for thehoisting drum and having a vertically movable traveler, a lever engagingat one end beneath the link, and means actuated by the traveler when itarrives in a predetermined posit-ion shifting Said; levensto shift thelink to theneby, disen-i a friction Wheel yielclingly unged against saidgage the'last named pinion fromthe point-en coils on the drum and havinga relatively gear heel and: permitthe pointer to freely Wide surfaceequal to the width of a plurality 10 swing toa normal position. ofcoils.

5 1441mm :1 matenial handling mechanism, a In testimony whereof Iafiixmy signature.

dnum, a cable havingsevenal coils-extending aroundzthe drum, andanlindicator-including ISHMAEL WV. MACY.

